Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-03-14
AFAsHIoNARLE VIEW oFLENT.
How the Season Is Enjoyed by the
Church Sewing Glasses

How the Season is Enjoyed by the
Church Sewing Glasses.
NEW YORK, March 12.-Lent is upon us
aud there is no dancing, no opera. no
society dining, no flirting ahem no par
ties. That is the old grandmotherly no.
ton about Lent, and it holds good with
our fashionable ladies. But how much
farther can we carry the comparison!
Our dear old grandmas used to sit, day
after day, prayer book or Bible in hand,
meditating, eating sparingly all the week,
and eating positively nothing on Friday,
and II they went out 1t was to church,
church. church-until you could not rest.
DO wef Well, guess not. Take my
dear little cbnm, Clara Madison, for in
stance, who thinks she keeps Lent way up
10 the handle. / called on her yesterday
and found her IN dark brown tight-ft.
ting dress of ravishing simplicity.
which she informed me was one OF the
sober garments which she had sub
stituted for her worldly gowns. You
never would have known it was a penl-
tential robe-it WAS so cute, / asked her
II she could not come out to the shops with
Inc and she said YES, but not until she had
performed Der devotion. She showed me
her new prize dieu made by the principal
art furniture designer in town 1t looked
tribe like one of those little shut-up
| parlor stepladdars you often see, only 1t
was made 30 you could kneel on the bot
tom step and rest your elbows or arms on
the top, where your book is placed. 1t
! was carved out OF California red wood
and inlaid with gilded brass and padded
| peacock blue plush. She opened her
Episcopal prayer book at the right place
and, commanding me not to speak, kneeled
down and said the lesson of the day. A
i pretty picture she made with her high
bonnet, tasty newmarket and dainty
| gloves, and the jingle of her ieweled
bracelets keeping time to her prayer. 1t
was deeply religious, peniiential pic
ture, want you to know. Of course l
am not joking.
| When she arose she said:
Amy, dear, you ought to be better
| girl in religious way. You don't know
what comfort it is. Already in these
few days OF Lent l feel so refreshed and
streng thened as | cannot begin to tell
you. BY the way, come to our sewing
class in the church this afternoon. Our
rector will be there, and he's a perfect
duck. And il / can Pll get you invited
to Mrs. Brown-ThOmpson's badminton
party right afterwards. ! on will see such
a lot of exquisite dudes L am sure il will
be fun for you"
| The sewing class was In the rect0r's
study. About forty ladies met, and some
| goods, all cut ready for sewing, were
given out. l got the pieces for new
born baby's long dress-utterly useless
| for me to work on without a machine, and
| there were no machines. But 1t didn't
matter. No one pretended TO WORK. All
waited for the rector. He came late and
| looked to me as II he had eaten too much
dinner. He praised the ladies for coming
and said how good iL was and kind of
/ fh.,.k fN n fn.lr Nff ta - L. s.l.
and tit their children with garments
properly made and of good material.
| When he finished, the ladies said they
| liked to labor for the poor. but first they
wanted to ask him If he didn't think they
bought to get four new sets OF altar
drapery for the church. he liked the idea,
and so the ladies wed with one another
| In Offering to provide these necessaries,
| which, l was told afterwards, they would
be Obliged to have made from $50 to 500
set. Bon-bons were passed around, and
while every ones work lay In her lap,
the talk was OF riding parties, quiet BIRTH
day celebrations, readings, etc. 1t
seemed to me that l would not want to
work as hard for my living as these ladies'
had to work In beating Old Nick around
the bush to invent Lenten fun and then to
enjoy it.
But must tell you of one thing that
happened. NV friend Clara started
discussion on Lenten dress, and nearly
! all the ladies' said they were completely
Lenten clad from their stockings out. |
was taken off my guard, tor l had never
| supposed there was any change in any
but the outer garments. l ventured to
| say so, The women looked at me with
panied surprise, but Clara came to my
rescue with an "Oh, you little pet, you
have no more religion than cat. Why,
| in Lent all of us who are strict renounce
the triVolities of the world, the flesh and
the Dickens. and if frills and tucks on
your skirts and lace on your-the rest OF
the thir gs-aren't friv0lties, I'd like to
know what are" AMY l.. WEAVER.